The Gift
by kissmekent
Summary: This is a Stimi story, about Mimi and Stanley post season 2 of Jericho. Just as their life is settling back to normal, they get the types of surprises that life tends to throw at you. Ch 9 up!
1. Chapter 1

This is a Stimi story after the finale (I will not call it the series finale, I'm holding out fo Scifi channel or someone else to pick up the show!)

The Gift

Chapter 1: An Unknown future

Mimi watched her fiance sleep peacefully for the first time since they had burried his sister. He seemed so peaceful, like he didn't have a care in the world. She knew that this was not true. They had to start planting the corn crop within the next week to have a decent crop to harvest come fall. And they didn't know if the Cheyenne government would replace Major Beck and grab everyone that was implicated with insurgence. Would she loose him anyway? Would they take the farm? A few days ago she would have said that it was okay as long as they were togther, but she knew that this farm was more than dirt and buildings. It held the spirits of everyone that Stanley ever loved, parents and now his sister. And it was were their children would grow up. She knew that was what he was dreaming about.

Stanley woke up to find Mimi stairing down at her, "What is it?"

"Just dreaming"

"Of what?"

"Do you want kids?"

Stanley was shocked at the questions, "Of course. I don't know if my boys are still swimming up stream, you know, after I was out in the radiation rain."

"Well, I think that I can say for certain that it is possible."

"You mean?"

"Before the bombs I used a type of birth control that's an injection every six months. It ran out in December. I lost track of time, and there was no way that I could get another dose... I remember reading that it took a while to get pregnant after going off the birth control, six months to a year after not getting a dose. However, with us it didn't take that long. Last week I had an appointment at the med center to go back on the birth control, and they told me that they needed to give me a pregnancy test, cause the birth control could hurt the baby."

"So, does that mean?"

"They gave me a pregnancy test, and it came back positive."

The biggest smile she had seen on him since Bonnie died flashed across his face. "We're gonna have a baby?"

"I was afraid to tell you, it's only been a week since we buried Bonnie, and I don't know..."

Stanley pulled Mimi in for a kiss, "You didn't know that a child was included in 'anything and everthing,'"

"We're at war, Stanley, you might loose your farm for being an 'inserectionist', how could we bring a child into this world?"

"Let's take this one step at a time, take the good while we have it. The bad will be along soon enough."

"Your right." Mimi said, "So, wanna show me how happy you are,"

"Can we?"

"If we haven't hurt it already, you don't have to worry now..."

TBC ?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The morning after

They woke to the sound of Eric's voice. "Stanly, Mimi, you here."

Eric saw the two of them, dischevled and blushing, mimi with the comforter around her, "Did I interupt something?" He asked.

"We were just celebrating."

"Speaking celebrating, I just got word from Jake. He's in Texas, with Hawkins. Hawkins had one of the bombs from the original attack, and they are testing the bomb, they can use it to prove who was behind the attacks."

"What's next?"

"They said to stay low. We'll be fighting a civil war soon enough."

Mimi had a sharp intake of breath, "With us stuck in the middle of it." She brought her hand to cover her stomach, to protect the unborn life inside of her. "Stanley."

"I have to stay out of it, all of it."

Eric looked confused, "What?"

"I almost got sent to prison, with no trial, and now I have to make sure that the Cheyenne government has no reason to connect me wit the insorectionists. Mimi's pregnant. "

Eric nodded, "I understand that you don't want to risk the baby being raised without you, but with the fight coming, we will need every person, for your child's future."

Stanley nodded, "We'll see. Until then, I'm planting tommorow... J & R, thanks to Mimi, provided a tractor and seed, but I'll need some man power." They had agreed when their world ended, that as far as the food was concerned, because everyone needed the food, everyone would help plant and harvest it.

"I'll round up as many people as possible. Enjoy your last day off..."

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm

It was something that Mimi never thought that she'd get used to, rising with the sun. But here she was, making breakfast while her husband was outside feeding their livestalk. He normally would have waited an hour, but a bunch of their neighbors were coming to help them plant this season's crops. While the government of Cheyenne has not raised their head yet, they knew that there was the possibility, with the upcoming Civil War that they all knew was coming, that they would have to raise their own food. They could not rely on this new government to provide them with the food that the town would need to make it through the winter.

They were taking precautions, stock piling food for the people in town, buying more livestalk, and growing the food that would provide for both the people and the livestalk. It was a good thing that they had put the wind turbines in storage when the Cheyenne government restored the power in town. Major Beck had declaired that he no longer recognized the Cheyenne government, but the people in town were still wary of him and his men. If food was scarce in the upcoming winter, the town residence would not risk going hungry for the soldiers.

So, after a week of removing the first 18 inches of soil off the fields in town, there was a major group effort to grow wheat, corn, and potatoes in mass. They also assigned people with back yards to build green houses to grow vegtebles like Carrotts, Celery, Lettice, and other vegtibles continuously once the weather got cold. They had to survive, and they didn't want to depend on a government that was resposible for destroying their civil liberties.

Today they were starting to plant as much Corn as could fit in Stanley's fields. Mimi was prowd, because she started growing tomatoes and peas in the green house that Stanley had built as a wedding present. She had taught herself to cook in ways that she never thought that she would have to, before the September Attacks. They all knew that bad times were on the horizon. They were insurectionists.

"Good morning honey." Stanley said, with a sweet kiss to her neck. He was behind her as she was at the stove, "What's for breakfast?"

"Oatmeal and Raisins."

"Yum, and the oatmeal looks good too."

Mimi blushed, "Stanley! We can't, they're going to be here soon!"

"They can wait," Stanley whispered as he chewed lightly on her ear. "I..."

A knock interupted what he was going to wait, "Stanley, Mimi, we're here!" That was Mrs. Green, who walked in seeing the two newlyweds, she smiled, "I hope that I'm not interupting anything."

Mimi smiled back, "I was just trying to convince my husband here that sex has to wait until the corn is planted!"

"Mimi!" Stanley said blushing, not wanting to talk about s-e-x in front of his mother-figure. "Want some oatmeal?" He asked, changing the subject.

Stanley looked over the field that would provide for his family. This fall they would be harvesting 25 more corn than they had last year, and that would help the town keep from starving, and keep his own precious family from starving as well.

After he lost his parents he wanted to die along with them, but he had to take care of Bonnie. When Bonnie was gone, he was reminded for the second time in his life how precious and fragile life was. He knew that he would stand between danger and the two precious individuals that he now lived for, his wife, and the unborn child that he loved even though he had never met it. That was why he worked so hard, why if or when the time came when the Cheyenne government came for them, he would fight for them, to protect their lives and their lively hood.

And he knew that he wasn't alone. People from town, people he had known all is life, and newcomers like Major Beck had all helped to plant in a day what would have taken him weeks to do on his own. And when the day came when they had to stand between the innocent and the evil, he knew that he would.

Mimi smiled. Most of the people had gone home after the planting was done, but Mrs. Green, Eric, Emily and Mary had stayed for dinner that she and Mary had spent much of the afternoon preparing. When they had taken the power, it slowed the cooking process. She was chatting with Emily about her class, when she turned to her husband to ask him if he wanted any more food, but he was sound asleep, his head having barely missed his plate.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unexpected Visiters

It was official, the Allied States of America was at war with the Coalition, which included the United States of America and the Independent Republic of Texas. For the moment the few battles were limited to the Texas/ Cheyenne Boarder. The UN peace keepers had recieved the evidence that Jake and Hawkings had delivered to the Texas government. They initiated an official investigation in the Cheyenne Government. Bombing two countries that had nothin to do with the attack was a serious crime. Unfortunatly the ASA government denied all of it, blocking the real stories from the media. There was little that a farmer from Jericho, KS could do to change government policies. Stanley hoped that Jake was doing more good than they were.

"Why are you so silent? You are usually such a chatterbox!" Mimi said sarcastically, she usually talked alot, while he the silent partner.

"I got a letter from Jake. He didn't say too much in case J&R is monitoring our mail. The letter is dated a while back, but when he wrote the letter, Hawkings was reliesed from the hospital and the 'package' was delivered to our cousin. I think that's code for Hawkings' bomb getting safely to the Texas government for testing."

"Did he say when he's coming back? A certain child will need it's godfather." They had discussed it, and decided to make Jake the baby's Godfather, while Emily was going to be the baby's godmother. Emily had tried to go into Texas to be with Jake over the summer, but they had denied her crossing the border because of her 'connections to criminal activity,' which ment that they were keeping an eye on all of them.

"He said that it will take them some time to get back home. We've got time, the baby's not due until Late Fall. This letter was written a month ago, knowing Jake, he'll show up at the time that we'll least expect." He was interupted by a knock at the front door. "I'll get it honey, you relax."

Stanley opened the door to find a middleaged redhead. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, My name is Mrs. Elisabeth Parker, I am looking for a Mimi Clark, does she live here?"

"Yes, she's my wife, Mimi!"

"Can I help you?" Mimi asked.

"I'm Liz Parker, I'm with a branch of social services dediated to finding relitives for childen who were orphned in the September attacks. Your brother was Willam Clark, married to Virginia Clark?"

"Yes, they lived in DC with their daughter."

"Well, speaking of their daughter, during the attacks Samantha Clark was on a fieldtrip to a farm in rural Virginia when the attacks happened. She's in the car."

"Sam's alive!" Mimi ran out the door to the car parked outside the house. Stanley stood with tears in his eyes. When he had searched for Mimi's family, they must not have had records for all of the orphens that was there since the attacks. He watched at the reunion for Aunt and Niece. Mimi had told him that she and her brother shared the same dark hair and eyes. Well, it looks like those were dominte traits, for Sam Clark was the spitting image of her aunt.

He turned to the woman beside him, "How come you never wrote or called? We would have come get her."

"Well, offically, I am not allowed on this side of the blue line. But we found families and friends for most of the other children under my care. Sam had no other family, and I wouldn't let politics keep a child from being reunitd from their only family. "

"How'd you find us? We're not exactly on good term with the Cheyenne government."

"Mimi saw you're wife's face on a new's broadcast when President Tomarchio was on his tour last month It took me that long to get forged papers to get us across the border. I'd appreciate it if you keep my metheds, shall we say, low profile."

"Don't worry, I'm just glad that Sam is safe. Mimi practically broke down when she found out that DC was destroyed, now we know that a piece of her family survived. We'll keep her safe."

Mimi and Sam came up the stairs onto the porch wearing identical grins, "Sammy, meet your Uncle Stanley."

The little girl giggled, "I can't believe you married a guy named Stanley. Promise me you won't be that cruil to your child!"

Stanley smiled, "Hi Sam, it's nice to meet you." He looked at Mimi, "Why don't we get her settled in Bonnie's old room."

Mimi looked at him knowingly, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I don't think that Bonnie would want us to create a shrine of her room."

"Okay, Why don't you go with Stanley, he'll give you a tour while I talk with Mrs. Parker."

"No!" She said, she gripped tightly to Liz Parker's leg.

Mrs. Parker smiled, "Honey, I know that it's been a hard year, but you are with family now. Go with Uncle Stanley, I will be up with your Aunt Mimi to say goodnight, okay?" She watched as the warry little girl allowed her new Uncle scoop her into arms that was used to caring for a child.

When Stanley was upstairs with Sam, she turned to Mimi, "I'm sorry to spring this on you."

"I'm just sorry that I didn't know that Sam was alive sooner, I would have gone to get her myself."

"That's what Stanley said. Who's Bonnie?"

"Stanley's little sister. Stanley raised her when their parents died in a car crash, he was 18, she was 4. She was killed a few months ago. I can still see the haunted look in his eyes sometimes."

"It seems we're all trying to find our way back from that day."

"So, what are your plans, do you have a place to stay?"

"I have a rental car, I'm taking a plane out of Witchita in the morning."

"You can take the spare room, leave in the morning. I'm sure that Sam will want to see you before you go. What time's your flight?"

"I'm flying out at 11am, I should leave by 5, I don't want to wake Sam up that early."

"Stanley is up that early feeding the animals. Besides, I'm sure that Sam will want to give you a hug goodbye before you leave. She can go back to bed after."

With a nod of agreement, they went upstairs. Mimi smiled as she overheard Stanley talking to Sam, "Her name is Angel, tomorrow we can teach you how to ride her."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Thank you, Uncle Stanley!"

Mimi came in, "It's nice to know that we're not stuping to bribery."

"I reserve the right to spoil my niece to my heart's content."

Mimi gigged, then her face became more serious, "Sam, we'll talk more in the morning, but I want you to know that your Uncle Stanley and I love you, and you never have to be afraid to bring up any issues."

"How long will I stay here?"

Mimi looked at Stanley, he nodded, in their unspoken agreement, "We are you're family, this is your home forever."

"What about Ms. Parker?"

Liz Parker took that as her key, "Sammy, my job is to take care of children who have no one. We found your family. Now I have to go back and take care of other little boys and girls who are alone. Do you understand?"

The little girl nodded, "Will I see you again?"

"Maybe, someday. Just know that you have two people here who love you very much."

The little girl yawned as she nodded. Stanley chuckled "Looks like someone should be going to sleep soon."

Before they could say anything else she was sound asleep.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Nightmares and Wet Beds

"Mommy! Mommy!" Mimi heard Sam cry in her sleep.

"Shhhh... it's okay, I'm here."

"I want my Mommy." Sam just tuned six, but the trajety had caused her to revert. Mimi felt the wet sheets. Sam had been here a week. During the day Sam was fine, she was distracted by life on the farm. Stanley had told her that it was her special job to feed the chickens and collect the eggs each morning. Six year olds were normally up at the crack of dawn, so that wasn't a big adjustment. She got to know the horses, and like her aunt, started talking to the chickens. Stanley taught her how to ride Angel, and Sam loved helping Mimi cook. But when the sun went down, she would dream of parents, who to her just disapeared. She had even started to wet the bed. Mimi tried to keep the darkness at bay. But their experiences were different. Mimi had been sheltered in this town, while this little girl witnessed the evil hearts of men.

She was asleep calmly in her arms. With Stanley's help they changed her clothes, put on the plastic cover to the bed from when Bonnie was little, and fresh linens on the bed. The other nights she had had nightmares again when she went back to sleep. But when Mimi checked on her when they were up to start their day, she was calmly sleeping.

The next day, Stanley took Sam riding on a trail nearby. Mimi, who had taken to working from home since they lost Bonnie, was making lunch for when they got back when there was a knock on the door. "Jake!" Mimi screamed, "How are you! How's Mr. Hawkings?"

"He's with his family. I just wanted to see how Stanley's doing, after..."

"Yeah, he's taking it a day at a time. He's out teaching my Niece how to ride."

"Niece?"

"Yeah, it turns out that she was on a fieldtrip outside the city when the attacks happened. In all the confusion, it took that broadcast here with the president for them to know I'm alive."

"So, new niece, and new baby?"

"Is it really that obvious, I'm only four months along."

"I came into town last night, Em told me." He turned at the sound of horses as Jake and Sam trotted back. "Here's the proud father now"

Stanley smiled, as he swung down and moved Sam from the horse to the ground. "You been around again?"

"Sorry it took so long to get back, Hawkings and I had to lay low."

Mimi saw the look from Stanley, "Sam, why don't we go set the table for lunch, and let Uncle Stanley talk to Mr. Green."

"Okay."

TBC...

sorry, it's not as long as I wanted it to be, I'm having technical difficulties with my keyboard of all things!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Minutemen and Rangers

"So, Jake, what's up that you can't say in front of Mimi and Sammy?"

"It was big of you to let your niece to stay."

"Jake."

"Texas has joined in an alliance with the United States government. The Cheyenne Governmet does not know for certain who brought the bomb to Texas, but I was warned before we left that even though they haven't taken action against Jericho yet, it's only a matter of time."

"And if they were to decide that our town was a center of resistence again..."

"And our group of Rangers wouldn't stand a chance against trained soldiers with unlimied weapons and manpower. What do we do?"

"We can either abandon our homes and flee for Texas, or we can lay low. Emily was talking about the 'minutemen' from the Revolution."

"What are you saying?"

"While in daylight we are responsible citizens of the Allied States of America. By night we do things that disrupt their military efforts against Texas and the US."

"How?"

"Hawkings was thinking of dismantling factories, disrupting shipments."

"That's all and good. But what about the people." Mimi said from behind them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"That's okay, what were you thinking of doing?"

"I was thinking about a quote from college, 'the greatest tool of oppressors are the mind of the oppressed.' We need to initiate a massive grassroots effort. Educate people on the realities of this new government, write underground newspapers, pamphlets, books. I think that if we want to improve the lives of people, we need to start with the mind."

Jake smiled, "I knew there was a reason you got audited, Stanley. Mimi, why don't you get together with my mom and Emily. Em was talking about buildng a printing press. We need to find a place where a printing press would fit, and the extra people and power we'd need to run it wouldn't be conspictuous."

"The turbines, they're still in my old barn, would they notice if we used them?" Stanley asked.

"Your well is close to your old barn, the one your grandfather used until the new tractor equipment was too big to fit?"

"Yes, if we put up a turbine, we could explain to any curious government officials that it is used to power our plumbing since the attacks. It saves us on having to pay an electric bill. I am in huge debt with the government after all. But how will we be able to have the people who run the printing press come and go without drawing suspicion? My farm is a little out of the way."

Mimi smiled, "Why do we have to hide the fact that we have a printing press in town? The press will be a town co-op, run by the wind turbine. During the day we'll print a local newspaper with innocet news, maybe some fiction or poems. At night we'll print a byweekly pamphlet printing news of the war, the truth of the government. Pass them town to town, person to person. If they won't give us the free presses, we'll have to take it back. Who knows, maybe other towns will follow suit."

"Aunt Mimi, I'm hungry," the dark haired girl called from the porch.

Jake laughed, "You heard the little lady, let's eat."

Writing underground pamphlets was a small thing, but it was a way to get mind's back from this corupt government. It was a start."

TBC..

I know, writing newspapers are not as exciting as great battles, but I think that it's more productve.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Hidden Meanings

Stanley was a simple man. He, like his father before him, worked the land in the hope that it will prosper, and that the fruits of his labor will be enough to care for himself and his family. But he had found in the last year just how far he was willing to go to protect his land and his family. He had never thought that he would find himself in a firefight or participating in subterfuge. But he had found himself doing both. He never thought that he would ever kill a man, yet he had done so without hesitation.

And he would do it again. For Jake, his brother from another mother, his wife and unborn child, and this six year old girl, who had been delivered to them by an angel a month ago. Sam had been through hell in the last year. Much worse than Bonnie had. He and Bonnie had lost their parents in a car crash 14 years ago, but they had had the consistency of the house, land and neighbors to bring them back to life. And they'd had each other. Sam, from what the social worker had said, had gone from having loving parents to the chaos after the attack. Food was scarce, medical care even more so. Sam had only survived because the teachers and the parents on the field trip had worked hard against the world they found themselves in to find the surviving family members of the six year olds.

He had changed the sheets of Sam's bed for the first week that she was here. She had continued to have nightmares, but for the last week the nightmares had not come every night. Stanley loved to see Mimi with Sam. Mimi had said that she hadn't spent much time with her niece, but now you wouldn't know it. Stanley had to admit that he would be a little jealous that Sammy got most of her attention if he hadn't spent most of his time during the day maintaining the crops and the animals.

9876543210

Mimi was now five months along. She was just starting to show, and was getting lots of attention at work and while in town. It was mid august, and thanked god for the airconditioning in the J&R building, for this was the hottest month of the year, and her pregnancy meant that her body failed to regulate it's temperature like normal. But it was quiting time. With a breath, she put her long hair up in a loose bun in her hat, and headed back to the farm.

On the way there she stopped to pick up Sam at the Green's house. Lately Mimi had to work part time to make ends meet, and with Stanley working so hard on the farm, Mrs. Green had offered to babysit. Sam had taken to calling her Granny Gina. Mrs. Green had been the mother to most of the young people in Jericho: Jake, Eric, Emily, Mary, Stanley, and latey Mimi. When Johnston died they had all taken turns taking care of Mrs. Green, and she in turn had taken care of all of them.

"Gina, Sam?" Mimi said, looking through the house. The front door was open in an attempt to keep the hot weather at bay.

"In the kitchen!" Gina's voice rang through the house.

Mimi walked in to see Sam's cute little face and hands covered in choclate pudding, "What's going on here."

"I'm Gram Gina's helper, we made choclate pudding!"

Mimi smiled, "I can see that."

Sam held the choclate covered wooden spoon in an equally choclate covered hand, "Want some?"

Mimi licked the spoon, "Mhh, tasts good."

Gina smiled over at the exchange, "Sorry for the mess, want me to clean her up?"

"No, I'll clean the girl, that leaves you the rest of the kitchen."

"Oh, lucky me."

"Aunt Mimi?"

"Yes?"

"When are we going home?"

"As soon as we get you cleaning up."

"Then we're going to EC?"

"You mean DC?"

"Uh huh."

"We talked about this, DC is gone, you're living with me and Uncle Stanley."

"Then are mommy and daddy going to live here?"

"When we said that your mommy and daddy were with you, we meant that they are in heaven, looking over you 'cause they love you so much."

"So, they're not coming?"

Mimi sighed, "No honey, but Uncle Stanley will always be her for you."

9876543210

The questions that Sam had asked her that afternoon ate at her. She needed to do something that would tell Sammy that the situation wasn't temporary, "Stanley."

"Yeah, hon."

"What would you say about adopting Samantha, officially, giving her our name."

"What made you think of this?"

"She keeps asking me how long she's staying. Today she asked me if we're sending her back to DC."

"Is it something you want?"

"I do."

"We'll go talk to our lawyer in the morning."

The next morning after their chores were done, they were sitting with the new lawyer in town they had to handle their affairs since the attacks. "So you want to officially adopt your niece?"

"Yes," they said.

"Her parents died in the attacks?"

"Yeah." Mimi said, "They lived in DC near me, Sam was outside the city at the time. We just found her a month ago."

"Here are the official channels. Because there are no official death certificates, you are required to put personal adds in three major newspapers, each in a different city. If you've heard no response in two months, we can start processing the adoption process."

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Questions

Mimi and Stanley had done as the lawyer said. They had put ads in newspapers in Columbus, Cheyenne, and New York City. That was two months ago, and they had yet to get a response. But she knew that there wouldn't be any. At the time that the attack happened it was 8pm, her brother, Mathew, and sister-in-law Jessica were at their home in Alexandria. The blast radius went as far out as Falls Church. Sam and her school group survived because their bus had broke down 15 minutes after leaving historical Jamestown in Williamsburg Virginia. The bus was finally fixed when the world ended.

That was all that they had gotten from Sam. She hadn't talked about anyting between the time that the bomb went off and she showed up here. But they decided to leave it for now, and focus on moving forward. That is why they handed in the adoption papers last week. It was time to look towards the future.

But Mimi was at that moment knee deep in finantial records for the harvest season. She could understand how Stanley had screwed up. It wasn't like normal jobs where the taxes are taken out automatically, they had to do their math right to pay the correct amount of taxes from the surplus crops that they had sold.

There was a knock on the door. Mimi wondered who it was, Stanley and Sam would have walked in, and this far out visitors were limited to James and Emily helping out due to the fact that she was seven month along, and Dr. Hazes had told her to stay off her feet as much as possible to prevent complications. Hense the paperwork.

It took her a minute to get up, and she waddled her way to the door, "Can I help you?" Mimi asked a middle aged man who looked as out of place as she had when she first came here.

"Yes, I'm Alexander Harris, from Social Services, I'm here to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Richmond regarding the adoption of a Miss Samantha Clark."

"Hi, I'm Mimi Richmond, It's sunday,so my husband is at the farmer's market with Sam. I would have gone, but the doctor ordered me off my feet as much as possible."

"Then by all means, let's go sit down. Don't want to defy the doctor."

This man struck her as the southern gentleman type, "Stanley and Sam won't be home for an hour."

"That's okay, why don't we visit until they return," After having sat down, "Now, as you are the only blood relative found for this child, the adoption process is much shorter than it otherwise would be, but I have to ask certain questions, okay?"

"Shoot."

"What is your relation to Miss Samantha Clark?"

"Her father was my brother."

"And have you made attempts to contact your brother and sister-in-law?"

"Yes, we placed newspaper ads in newspapers in Cheyenne, Columbus, and New York City two months ago, there hasn't been a response."

"Why do you want to adopt your niece?"

"Because we love her like she was our own daughter. She lost her parents when the attacks, and it took social services out there nine months to locate me. She kept asking me how long she's staying. I want this to be able to tell her that she can count on forever with us."

The man smiled, "I wish that all my apointments were this good. Next, where is Sam enrolled in school?"

"Sam is enrolled in Jericho Elementry School, she loves her teacher, Miss Henderson, I help her do her homework in the evenings, they're learning how to write their letters, they're on m through o this week."

"Okay, and Sam spends a lot of time outdoors?"

"Stanley taught Sam how to ride our mare, her name is Angel, although she won't be able to ride her as much after next month."

"Why?"

"Angel's pregnant, she's only six months along, but Stanley says she can't be ridden as much starting next month. Sam loves helping Stanley and me caring for the horses, lately just Stanley."

"That's wonderful." The man said, "What is Sam's rouine?"

"We all get up around 5:30. Sam feeds the chicken and collects the eggs. She has helped Stanley prepare the feed for the horses. But Sam knows that she's not allowed to open the stall doors or the gates without me or Stanley."

"That's good."

"Sam meets the bus down the road at 8:30. She goes to school and comes home at 3:30. I work at J&R from 10 to 5 three days a week. During the harvest season Sam would go over Mrs. Green's house until I got off work, but now that the harvest is over Stanley can be at the house with Sam until I get home."

"And who's Mrs. Green?"

"A friend. Her son is Stanley's best friend. Sam calls her Granny Gina."

"Okay, When Stanley gets home with Sam I will interview Stanley and Sam each alone, then all of you together. I will be here for monday and tuesday to observe your daily routine. I will send my report to Cheyenne, and if everything goes through okay, they will send the official adoption papers to your lawyer, they'll get filed, and Sam will be your daughter."

TBC...

A/N: I don't know what the exact protocals are for adopions, what I know I've seen on tv and movies. So if what I've read is wrong, remember a) it's all in my head and b) the Cheyenne Government is run by J&R, and they seem to LOVE burocracy!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Large and In Charge

There was a lot of work to do on a farm. They had to take care of the animals, prepare the food so that it'll last them through the winter, ecetera. Mimi started growing vegtables and herbs in the greenhouse that Stanley had built before the harvest season. She had, in this place, discovered a side of herself. It began after the september attacks. The complex society in which she lived fell away and all that was left was the basic human needs. That was why, even though she loves her work as an accountant, she wasn't consumed by it anymore.

Mimi and Stanley arrived at the hospital for her 8 month checkup. Mimi was almost too big to fit behind the driver's seat of Stanley's truck, and it had been a long time since she had been able to ride the horse. Yesterday she had to have Stanley put on her boots for her because she couldn't reach over belly comfortably. They had decided that they didn't want to know the sex of the baby, but the doctor wanted to check the development of the baby.

"Hi Mimi," The doctor said in a professional manner, "How are we feeling?"

"Large. I feel large, my back aches, and I haven't seen my feet in a week, but other than that..."

"All normal, now let's check out your baby." Mimi watched the screen, "See, here's the baby's head, spine, heartbeat, did you want to know the baby's sex?"

"No," Stanley said, engrossed in the image, "We decided that we wanted to be surprised."

"My only issue, Mimi, is your blood pressure. I know that a farm is hard work, and you adopted your six year old niece, but if your blood pressure stays at this level, you could be at risk for toximia. I want you to limit your time on your feet, and if your blood pressure isn't down in a week, we might have to deliver early."

"Is that safe?" Stanley asked.

"The baby is far enough along now that it would survive. All of it's organs are fully developed, it will just be a little small. Don't worry. Just stick to bed rest, and everything will be fine."

TBC...

Hello faithful readers! Mimi is close to having her child. Will it be a boy or a girl? What will it's name be? I'd love your input! Thanks!


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